With the changing climate of the Arctic, keeping an eye on the polar bears have been a serious objective, and responsibility of the researchers, climate watchers, environmentalists etc.1 min

With the changing climate of the Arctic, keeping an eye on the polar bears have been a serious objective, and responsibility of the researchers, climate watchers, environmentalists etc.

Polar bears are really threatened due to global warming- a process that has been initiated and accelerated by man. Now the poor species of bears which needs snow to survive is fully dependent on how man protects the poles on earth from further warming and damage.

Hence, various initiatives have been taken from time to time to observe the behavior, life, and activities of the bears.

Things that need to be observed

Their activities, changing patterns and cycles are suggestive of how they are getting influenced by the global warming. Observations also reveal their susceptibility, and adaptability towards the changing situation. They would survive, or get threatened more, or would slowly acclimatize.

Whether their number is falling drastically, or gradually, or they are springing back to gain a balance again, are some of the important things to know. This will reveal lots of facts about the polar bears, their nature, reaction to the weather and temperature etc.

These points need to be observed and noted for the betterment of the environment, the animal kingdom, and for the overall betterment of mankind.

Drones suit the objective well

Drone cameras so far have been the best equipment in carrying on the observations. Earlier, before the abundant availability and use of drones, helicopters were used for the same reasons.

But they affected the lives and environment of the bears by creating sounds, alerting them, and inhibiting silent observations. Moreover, the cost of sending and using helicopters was too much for carrying on a research. The alternative came with the drones.

Drones are much silent compared to helicopters and cost a lot lesser. They can be controlled way better with remote and cameras. Drones can reach difficult parts and places, get inside caves and reefs and are extremely good in covering aerial views.

For these reasons, drone cameras started to be used in filming polar bears silently, without alerting the bears. And now the results that have come up are quite impressive.

Overcoming the challenge of temperature

One of the challenges researchers face is that the battery operated drones often face hiccups in operation after running for 10-15 mins in average. That’s because the battery gets too cold in the polar temperatures. To combat the problem, they found a nice solution.

They store their batteries in the warmer interiors of the boats, and only fit the batteries on the drone prior to releasing the drone for take-off.